Princess Sultana's Circle

Saudi society, my presence
would be improper. This, even though Omar was not really considered
a man. Poor Omar lived a sad and uncertain fate. He was neither man
nor woman, although his status was slightly lower than a man’s, but
higher than a woman’s.
    I did not object to
Kareem’s suggestion, although I had already braced myself to hear
the lurid details of Omar’s castration. I knew that once we were
alone, Kareem would willingly tell me everything. But I was too
impatient to wait. I decided to listen to the rest of Omar’s story
from the other side of the door.
    “ Yes, of course,” I
replied, standing up and leaving the room. I hurried to the kitchen
and requested the cook to prepare a selection of refreshments
consisting of cheeses, fruits, and choice sweets.
    Once I left the kitchen, I
stepped quietly and stopped behind the door leading into the
sitting room.
    Omar was still speaking,
and I soon realized that I had not missed the main part of his
story. “…man was well-prepared for his duty. His razor was sharp,
and without knowing what was about to happen, I was suddenly
relieved of my three manly items.”
    Kareem gasped loudly,
“Surely, Allah’s word was mocked by those men and their cruel
actions!”
    “ Allah was nowhere to be
found on that day,” Omar said wistfully, “although His name was
invoked more than once by every boy subjected to this cruel
treatment.”
    I heard Kareem take a deep
breath.
    Omar remembered every
detail of his ordeal. “A tube was inserted into the opening that
was left in the place of my penis so that the hole would not close.
I was bleeding badly, but the bleeding stopped when that man’s
assistant poured boiling oil on my wounds.” Omar chuckled. “He
presented me with my genitals in a jar, even as I lay writhing in
pain! I kept that jar and its contents for many years, until
fifteen years ago it was stolen by a cruel prankster.”
    “ It is a wonder that you
did not perish in the midst of all this cruelty,” Kareem managed to
say.
    “ I survived, as you see. A
total of ten boys were castrated that day. One died immediately.
The rest of us were buried up to our necks in the sand.” He
chuckled humorlessly once more. “Who knows what cruel fool decided
that hot sand was a remedy for survival? So, for three days and
nights we were given no water or food. At the end, only three of
the nine were still among the living.”
    As I listened, my knees
became weak. This was the most horrid story I had ever heard!
Although I knew that in the past eunuchs were prized in many
countries, I had never considered the terrible agony those poor men
had undergone. I sincerely hoped that God had reserved the hottest
places in hell for the vile men who had committed such
acts!
    Poor Omar continued with
his tragic saga. “Congratulations went all around when the
Christian pulled the tube from my small passageway that remained
for water, and liquid spurted out; for those men knew that whoever
passed water would survive. Only two of the three still living were
able to urinate, myself and one other boy. The third boy’s hapless
body was poisoned by his own urine, and he soon died a tortured,
screaming death.
    “ After the fourth day, we
slaves were packed into a ship that set sail for a slave emporium
in Constantinople. I had survived castration and the slave trader
knew that I would bring a large sum of money.”
    I nodded. In those days,
eunuchs were prized as trustworthy guards for Muslim women. Only
impotent men were allowed in the women’s quarters.
    Omar’s words interrupted my
thoughts. “Therefore, the slave trader treated us two castrated
boys more kindly than the other slaves. We were housed on the top
deck and fed good food, while those other poor souls kept below
were stacked on top of one another during the sea journey. As far
as I could tell, they received no food or water. Many were dead by
the time we arrived at the harbor of Constantinople.”
    I judged that Omar’s story
had now passed the point that Kareem would object to my hearing, so
I returned quietly to the room and sat down.
    “ Go on,” Kareem said to
Omar’s questioning eyes. “It is all right, now.”
    Omar looked at me and
smiled. “I already told the Mistress that I was purchased by a
wealthy Turkish man. He owned a number of slaves, but owned only
two eunuchs, and both were growing old. I was told that when I grew
tall and strong, that I would be the one to guard his
women.
    “